i think it's her strongest set of original songs, even though there are a few in the later stretch that run into her problem of melodic and lyrical vagueness. the first 8 or so tracks are all pretty strong, and i love the last one ("the needle has landed"). i like that it's less self-consciously twangy, more noir-pop. i don't think you can really call it a country or alt-country album at all. the gospel song is great. she and kelly hogan really need to do a gospel album. -gypsy mothra
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 03:14 (seventeen years ago) link
― abanana, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:42 (seventeen years ago) link
Yes, this album makes the statement "Yay! drums and feedback exist" and that is a big part of its appeal. I think they switch it up a little.. they play on the notion of "inspiration" (in fact, that's what the whole album's about if you listen!) and kind of twist it around into an ambivalent mess, but it's such a thoughtful mess that it seems more like a conversation. -snnhy
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 20:40 (seventeen years ago) link
"What a dream of an album Yellow House is. Summery, shimmering, light as air, yet grounded enough in solid song-craft that it never floats off into the ether. Which is the problem with most alt/lo-fi/fractured Americana/folk/psych groups and artists who worship at the altar of Wilson/Parks or whatever forgotten author of teenage symphonies to God knows what is being touted and resurrected this week. They sound pretty and create aching wisps of reverential fluff, but they go in one ear and out the other. Grizzly Bear's melodies stick with you. Now a four-piece ? Grizzly Bear?s 2004 debut Horn Of Plenty being recorded by the duo of Christopher Bear and Edward Droste ? the band makes drifting sand-pop (the album was mostly recorded in, yes, a yellow house off of Cape Cod) where sound and instruments waft in and out of the room like ghosts. There is guitar, a brush on a drum, banjo, strings, horns, and pianos that reverberate or tinkle or act as percussion. There are gorgeous side-two-of-Abbey Road vocal harmonies and there are lone voices lost in the weeds. There is a lot to take in ? the ambient live noise and various fx adding to the mix ? and yet Yellow House never feels crowded or messy. It?s hypnotic and intimate but never cloying in its intimacy. You never feel the hot breath of desperation. Only the cool breeze of delight in invention. The album makes you wish that more indie acts would take the time to learn how to make their songs breathe -to live with and inhabit their songs until they are sturdy and can stand on their own without crumbling- instead of just trying to turn their record collections into gold." -scott seward
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 20:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 20:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:11 (seventeen years ago) link
Look at the 17 minute "Only Skin" (which is I think is the climax of the album): I cannot think of one other artist who has treaded the ambitious grounds of this song, the twisting and turning of the lyrical cycle, the slow evolutions from crescendo to naked statement, and made it fit so perfectly in one piece without disintegrating...as far as extreme rock music goes, this goes far behind something like Gogol Bordello, Black Dice or even the No New York scene, becuase its able to hold to together enough to make it timeless (those bands are admired because of their similar ambition, but its ambition that self-destructs on purpose)..YS such an honest projection of her longing and worries that is scares people, like Joni Mitchell's Blue probably scared people at first with its nakedness....the closest I can think from the female perspective is Kate Bush (going back to Joni Mitchell) but this is much less flawed...I think if you sit with it long enough even the certain lines that might of made you cringe are now endearing...it wasn't like this on the first album, some stories just didn't work, some melodies were annoying over time...but the machine is running flawless this time -Space Is the Place
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:14 (seventeen years ago) link
The lyrics on this album are often really painfully generic (to be fair, they're not singing or writing words in their native tongue), but there are so many incredibly rich melodies on this album. Still, it's quintessential indie, which means it's not going to be terribly ILM-friendly. Not as bad as the average Belle & Sebastian mimic; not as good as something similarly Nordic like Herman Dune, which is a bit more adventurous. But "The Chills," "Paris 2004," "Amsterdam," "Up Against the Wall," "Young Folks," and "Let's Call it Off" are jam packed with hooks - the verses are as catchy as the choruses, which is one of the things I love about the New Pornographers. From a purely pop perspective, they are incredibly talented. Hearing the Concretes-singer verses on "Young Folks," you wonder how they would do writing songs for other people, too. -Tiki Theater Xymposium
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:19 (seventeen years ago) link
― The Brainwasher, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:21 (seventeen years ago) link
The future of music - rip it up and steal all the good parts. People complain that downloaders gut albums for singles. Girl Talk guts singles for the 3-5 seconds that make pop music worthwhile. -Mordechai Shinefield
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:38 (seventeen years ago) link
When I first heard the album, it sounded refreshingly linear to me -- the songs seemed to be refusing to come back around in identifiable patterns. On further listen, I think that impression maybe wasn't accurate... it's more elliptical, I guess. In any case, it was nice to be surprised, to listen to this album without having any idea where it was going, fully convinced that the band knew where it was going. Now that I know the album much better, it continues to be very gratifying -- I'm still hearing things that I missed before. Also nice to have lyrics that don't actively prevent me from enjoying an album -- that's been a real deal breaker for me lately. -belle haleine
― musically, Thursday, 10 May 2007 21:41 (seventeen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 May 2007 22:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Gukbe, Thursday, 10 May 2007 23:07 (seventeen years ago) link
― Matt Armstrong, Friday, 11 May 2007 00:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― Mordechai Shinefield, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:22 (seventeen years ago) link
― Drooone, Friday, 11 May 2007 01:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Friday, 11 May 2007 02:01 (seventeen years ago) link
― Mordechai Shinefield, Friday, 11 May 2007 02:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― Z S, Friday, 11 May 2007 02:36 (seventeen years ago) link
― I eat cannibals, Friday, 11 May 2007 02:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― M.V., Friday, 11 May 2007 03:18 (seventeen years ago) link
― poortheatre, Friday, 11 May 2007 07:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Friday, 11 May 2007 08:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Friday, 11 May 2007 08:19 (seventeen years ago) link
― The Wayward Johnny B, Friday, 11 May 2007 08:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 11 May 2007 10:55 (seventeen years ago) link
― djmartian, Friday, 11 May 2007 11:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― The Reverend, Friday, 11 May 2007 15:49 (seventeen years ago) link
― Gukbe, Friday, 11 May 2007 17:17 (seventeen years ago) link
― groovemaaan, Friday, 11 May 2007 17:21 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 01:47 (seventeen years ago) link
― Clay, Saturday, 12 May 2007 02:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:30 (seventeen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:31 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:32 (seventeen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:32 (seventeen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tape Store, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:34 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tape Store, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:35 (seventeen years ago) link
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:36 (seventeen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:36 (seventeen years ago) link
This should be higher on the list but it's physically impossible for me to run longer than thirty minutes. -The Macallan 18 Year
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― The Reverend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:39 (seventeen years ago) link
Christ almighty is this ever good. I really didn't like Coming On Strong, but this one's just so breathtakingly easy to listen to that it's almost alarming. Maybe they beefed up the low end? I remember Coming On Strong sounding kinda artlessly chintzy, like they were sufficiently satisfied with making a blindingly ahead-of-the-curve R&B album that they didn't bother to make a GOOD blindingly ahead-of-the-etc., but this is just relentlessly dance-y. And WOW does "Over & Over" trump anything on the first album. -James.Cobo
― musically, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:42 (seventeen years ago) link
― The Reverend, Saturday, 12 May 2007 20:42 (seventeen years ago) link